Laurel Street Bakery expands to Broad Street

11 Oct 2013

Laurel Street Bakery opened a second location on Monday (Oct. 7) on Broad Street. For owner and baker Hillary Guttman, it’s an expansion of her business that is also a return to baking onsite. Recently, Guttman has been using a separate production kitchen to make her bagels, breads and cookies for the Uptown location. On Broad Street, everything sold at the shop is made in the shop.

“You lose the warmth and the smell of the items being brought straight from the kitchen to the counter,” Guttman said. “It gave it a life. It made it a bakery instead of a coffeeshop that had pastries.”

At the Broad Street location, Laurel Street Bakery also will have a more extensive menu of sandwiches and made-to-order breakfast options.

The new Laurel Street Bakery joins a growing number of businesses opening near the corner of Washington Avenue and Broad Street. An $8.7 million project spearheaded by Green Coast Enterprises seeks to revitalize that area with restaurants, nonprofits and a community health clinic.

Guttman learned about the incentives offered to businesses willing to locate in the Broad Street area directly from Mayor Mitch Landrieu. He often stops by the Uptown location for bagels, she said.

In the next few weeks, Guttman plans to start making all of the Uptown location’s baked goods onsite as well. The production kitchen Uptown will be devoted to her more than 40 wholesale clients, which range from Rouses grocery stores to the new Treme Coffeehouse.

“There is no reason,” she said, “for us to have a full-functioning kitchen and not have someone back there covered in flour.”

The new Laurel Street Bakery is 2701 S. Broad St. The original location is at 5433 Laurel St.